Begin again turned to Lebanon, where he was determined to defeat the PLO. In July 1981, fearing an Israeli-Syrian clash in Lebanon, the United States had brokered an ambiguous cease-fire, during which the PLO continued to amass heavy arms. Cautioned by Haig not to attack unless there was an “internationally recognized provocation,” Begin ordered the bombing of PLO positions in June 1982 after members of a PLO splinter group attempted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Britain. The PLO retaliated with a rocket barrage on Israel’s northern border towns, whereupon Israel launched a new invasion of southern Lebanon. The Israeli cabinet authorized a limited operation, and Begin made it clear that IDF troops were not to advance farther than 25 miles (40 km) beyond the Lebanese border. But Sharon had more ambitious plans. Even as Reagan’s special envoy, Philip Habib, attempted to prevent an Israeli-Syrian clash, Israeli jets destroyed Syrian antiaircraft missiles in Lebanon. This strategic surprise attack was followed by a short but violent series of ground skirmishes and two days of aerial combat that cost Syria some 100 aircraft.

Sharon sent the IDF toward Beirut and well beyond the mandated 25-mile limit. With the Syrians in retreat, Israeli troops besieged ʿArafāt and his remaining PLO units in the Lebanese capital. Israel’s Maronite Christian allies, the Phalange Party, contrary to Sharon’s expectations, did not act to secure the city as they had been expected to do, and a dangerous stalemate ensued. The pro-Israel Haig was forced from office, as a bewildered and angry Reagan, reinforced by U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, sought an Israeli withdrawal. Habib, working under the direction of Haig’s successor, George Shultz, managed to insert a multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon that allowed ʿArafāt and a portion of his force to evacuate Beirut in August, following a final Israeli bombardment.

The Lebanese Christians, however, were not to benefit from the Israeli actions. Phalange leader Bashir Gemayel, the new president-elect, was assassinated by Syrian agents in September, and in the ensuing disorders, Israeli forces allowed the Phalangist militia into two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila, where they massacred hundreds of men, women, and children. The multinational force, withdrawn quickly after ʿArafāt’s departure, was reinserted.

Shortly before the massacres, President Reagan had announced a plan for Arab-Israeli peace that pointedly applied the Resolution 242 formula to the Palestinian issue. The plan was designed, in part, to appease Arab anger and to revive the Jordanian option, but it was rejected by an Arab summit and hotly opposed by an alarmed Begin. However, the embattled prime minister did not have much time left. An official Israeli inquiry condemned Sharon for negligence in the camp massacres, forcing him to resign. Grieving over Israeli losses and the operation’s tragic outcome, Israelis mounted massive street demonstrations against the Begin government.

Under U.S. mediation, Israel and Lebanon reached a nonbelligerence agreement in May 1983, and Israeli troops withdrew from the Beirut area. An ailing Begin, devastated by his wife’s death and the war’s outcome, resigned in September and retreated into a reclusive retirement, dying in 1992. He was replaced by Yitzhak Shamir. On October 23, 1983, a suicide bomber from the radical Shīʿite Muslim organization Hezbollah blew up the U.S. Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport, which was part of the international peacekeeping force, killing 241. Within a few weeks, Reagan began withdrawing American forces, and after they had left, the Syrians and their local allies forced Lebanon to renounce the agreement with Israel.

The national unity government

Labour outpolled the Likud in the 1984 election, but not by a margin sufficient to form a government. To rescue the economy and extricate Israel from its military entanglement in Lebanon, Labour and Likud formed a national unity government in September, giving the premiership to Peres for 25 months, at the end of which the premiership would go to Shamir, with the understanding that the other would take the position of deputy prime minister of foreign affairs. Notably, Rabin was to be defense minister for both men.

Under Peres, the Israelis began a phased withdrawal from Lebanon in June 1985, except for a security zone where an Israeli-sponsored Lebanese force waged intermittent warfare against the Hezbollah, who enjoyed Iranian and Syrian patronage. An economic recovery plan also was put into place, assisted by the United States. For the first time, Israel began to reform its economic structures, which until then had been controlled by the state and the labour federation, Histadrut.

As stipulated by the rotation agreement, Shamir became prime minister in October 1986, with Peres as foreign minister. Determined to regain the top spot through a diplomatic breakthrough, Peres met secretly with Jordan’s King Ḥussein. The two reached an understanding known as the London Agreement in April 1987, but the agreement’s vague formulations did not command a majority of votes in the unity cabinet, and Shamir retained control.

Shamir continued the Begin policy of settling Jews throughout the West Bank, hoping to isolate the Arab towns and villages that might form the basis for a Palestinian state. Few Israelis responded to this initiative until Sharon, who returned to Shamir’s cabinet as housing minister, began subsidizing residential communities that were within easy commuting distance of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where housing was scarce and expensive. By 1992 the Jewish population in the occupied territories was approaching 100,000.

The intifāḍah

The Begin and Shamir governments had gradually abandoned Moshe Dayan’s old policy of leaving the Palestinians alone. By late 1987 the combined effects of settlement expansion, bureaucratic encroachment, land seizures, several years of economic stagnation, and the diplomatic stalemate had set the stage for an Arab rebellion in the West Bank and Gaza that quickly became known as the intifāḍah (Arabic: “shaking off”). This uprising was distinguished by widespread street violence in which children and teenagers battled Israeli troops with rocks and stones.

The Israeli military was caught by surprise and proved ill-equipped to deal with the revolt. A grinding contest of wills ensued that soon claimed many civilian casualties and altered the political landscape. In February 1988 Shamir invited Secretary of State Shultz to intervene, but he tried in vain to revive the diplomatic process. Meanwhile, King Ḥussein had finally abandoned his formal ambition to represent the Palestinians. Israel’s international image was suffering as the media recorded scenes of Israeli soldiers beating young Palestinians in the street. Frequent closures of the areas also severely disrupted the Palestinian economy, and Israel began to replace Arab day labour with immigrant workers from outside the region.

The Israeli election in November 1988 gave Likud a slight majority. Shamir was still forming a government when in December ʿArafāt, speaking at a special UN meeting in Geneva, reiterated a declaration that he had made the previous month that he was ready to recognize Israel and suspend terrorism provided the Palestinians obtained a state. The United States promptly recognized the PLO and opened a dialogue with it.

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The country of Israel, located in the Middle East, was founded in 1948. It was the first homeland for the Jewish people in nearly 2,000 years. Because Israel lies in territory claimed by Arabs, it has faced conflict with neighboring Arab countries. Israel has also experienced violence between Jews and Arabs (known as Palestinians) living within its borders. Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital.

The State of Israel lies at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, within the region known as the Middle East. The state was established in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people. Israel has had to forge a nation from the diverse Jewish people who immigrated from all parts of the world, while trying to integrate a large Arab minority. While striving to perpetuate the religious and cultural traditions that contributed to the Zionist rebirth, the tiny country was also forced to become a first-rate military power. The state was created from part of Palestine, a region also claimed by Palestinian Arabs. Israel fought five wars with neighboring Arab states in the period from 1948 to 1982 and has been involved in ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital. Area 8,357 square miles (21,643 square kilometers). Population (2015 est.) 8,022,000.